New Surface Dock Does Not Work via mini displayport to HDMI & DVI

Anonymous
2015-10-27T17:18:04+00:00

The specific device I am referring to, is the new Surface Dock for Surface Pro 3/4 and Surface Book. I have described the issue here on Reddit, and a number of others are also experiencing the same problem. Basically, the new dock doesn't work when the monitor is connected using mini displayport to HDMI. The monitor is detected correctly and the correct resolution is set, but the screen remains black. In my case, I randomly get some image on the monitor, but it's compressed to one side of the screen and garbled. The mini displayport to HDMI adapter works properly when connected directly to the Surface, so the adapter itself is fine. If I instead connect the mini displayport to VGA adapter to the dock, the monitor displays correctly. I have tried using a straight mini displayport to DVI cable and the issue remains. Additionally, I have connected a Surface Pro 3 to the dock and experience the same issue.

So to summarize, the dock does not function correctly when using a mini displayport to HDMI adapter to connect the monitor, but does work with a mini displayport to VGA adapter. This problem is repeatable using both a Surface Book and Surface Pro 3.

Surface | Accessories | Surface Dock

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Anonymous
2015-10-29T17:45:57+00:00

I purchased an active mDP to HDMI adapter from Amazon (Plugable is the brand) and so far the external monitor is working correctly through the dock.

Moderator Edit (11/3/2015):  If you are using a passive MDP to DVI adapter and experiencing difficulties, you may need to switch to using an active adapter.

If you switched from a passive to active adapter and continue to experience difficulties using Surface Dock to display to external monitors please consider making some changes to your cabling: different lengths, different quality, different adapters, etc.  If adjusting your cabling fails to resolve please consider sharing the following:

  1. Make and model of external displays
  2. Make/model of adapters if present
  3. Make/model of cables

For more troubleshooting info and steps to confirm your Dock is updated, please view our Troubleshoot Surface Dock article.

Thank you,

Josh

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Anonymous
2017-05-22T09:18:50+00:00

Hi,

 We suggest that you contact our Surface Answer Desk team for further assistance or visit the nearest Microsoft Store if you are in the US. In case you're offshore, contact our Global Customer Service team.

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-06-10T03:48:12+00:00

    Surface Dock only works once when using Display Port (DP) to HDMI converter.

    This problem still persists in June 2016 after being reported for months!

    Brought home a new Surface Book and Surface Dock.. hooked up to an HP 34C monitor using the Microsoft DP to HDMI conversion dongle, which was purchased coincident with the dock (last week, so it's new).  When I initially hooked everything up it all worked great.  Monitor seen, correct resolution (3440 x 1140) and I was able to easily switch inputs to the monitor using it's remote control.  The machine hooked up to the DP interface on the monitor is a Lenovo tower server running Windows 10 and only has DP output for video.  Also hooked up a Surface Pro 3 to the dock, worked great..  So a few days pass where I haven't used it..

    Hook up the Surface Book to the dock getting ready to go to work, same results as described all over this topic.  Either Surface seems to detect monitor, but no output to it.  Like others, I troubleshot this and checked every option.. cables, monitor.. even took the dock to my office to verify it worked and it was fine.  Since I use 2 docks, I've swapped them as well.  Both docks work great with straight display port.

    During trouble shooting I also checked out both Surfaces using direct cable/DP-HDMI converter.. resolution was limited to 1920x1080 on both.

    What the heck Microsoft?  Considering this has been going on for months, and after spending $250 on the dock/converter and it doesn't work correctly, I'm not a happy camper.

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-05-29T15:51:53+00:00

    I was having the same problem with two asus monitors on my surface book with dock. Support suggested I return the dock but I was having the same issue with the new one. Only one monitor was working. 

    So after a few weeks of going with one monitor I decided to check the "Intel HD Graphics" control panel. It was detecting my monitor's refresh rate wrong. The windows control panel was set correctly, but it was incorrect in the Intel control panel. Setting the refresh rate to 60p now has both monitors working. Connecting/disconnecting the dock they still work great.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-05-14T04:32:42+00:00

    I have the same issue, I use the surface pro 4 and an acer monitor instead, but same issue, not audio is transmitted through the displayport on the dock.

    Very disappointed, when the pro 4 came out it was full of bugs, the new dock also had a lot of issues and it's been half a year now, this issue is still not fixed, just might drift away from the surface line products in the future.

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